Chapter 1
Eve pulled the covers over her head trying to block out the morning. It seemed to her that she was the only one in the entire East Tower that wasn't a morning person. No sense putting it off any longer or her mentor would just show up at the door to her room and she learned long ago that her day included less chores if she didn't force him to walk to the top of the tall tower to retrieve her.
As her feet touched the cold stone floor Eve regretted not setting out her clothes the night before. Although her room was tiny it easily housed her single sized bed and a wardrobe large enough to fit her meager belongings. Since her mentor found her alone while he was investigating the destruction of her village and everyone else in it, including her parents, at a young age she had lived a simple life at the tower training and working and saving every cent she could.
After slipping into a pair of russet colored forms fitting leather pants and a light olive green shirt that loosely hugged her curves she bent over to put on her calf high black boots that magically shrunk to fit her feet perfectly. Her boots were the most expensive thing she owned but the magical enchantments on them that silenced her steps made them well worth the price.
She closed her door and quickly made her way to the kitchen to grab something to eat before she went to find her mentor in his study, being careful to stay out of the way of the others hurrying about the tower doing their daily tasks.
Entering the study a short old man with his hair trimmed to hang loose just to the base of his neck wearing a loose burgundy robe that was customary of his position as a head magus of the tower of the east searched one of the many bookshelves in the large office. Eve realised he had not yet noticed her and cleared her throat waiting politely.
"Good morning, Eve. Have you seen my compendium," Magus Wendel asked her as he sat down behind the large desk in the middle of his office straightening his robe.
"I have not Magus," Eve answered. She stood in front of the desk waiting for her mentor to instruct her on what he wanted her to do next.
Magus Wendel picked up a book from his desk and handed it to Eve. "I want you to deliver this book to the herbalist shop and puchase some herbs." He hands her a list and a pouch containing the necessary coins for the purchase.
Eve turn and quickly left the office before the old mage could say anything else. A quick stop at the stables and she had her favorite horse saddled and ready to head out. Eve had raised the sorrel stallion from a foal after his mother had died, even spending nights sleeping in the stables with him until they knew that he was going to survive. They let her name him Jesse and he was hers to ride for as long as she was in service to the Tower of the East.
Riding along the trail through the thick woods between the tower and the nearest town. The Tower of the East was one of four great ancient towers constructed back when the kingdom was still young. Each of the towers was set in a different direction from the castle in the middle of the kingdom and each had its own Magus, a head mage, to oversea squabble between outlying villages not deemed important enough to require the kings attention as well as to serve as a watch tower for the sake of recognizing threats to the kingdom from the neighboring lands. The tower is not a bad place to live but because of its purpose it is not exactly an exciting place for Eve as there are not a lot of people her age. A trip to the village was a treat and she was excited to see her friend while she was there.
The woods gave way to fields as the path took her past the outer edge of a couple of farms on the outskirts of the village. She loved seeing the tall grasses sway in the breeze as she road by. Soon she would see her friend Dina. It had been almost a week since her last visit and she was excited to hear all about the travelers who visited the inn run by Dina's family. The tower rarely had guests so Eve found the stories of other people's travels exciting. It was a short while later she found herself at the village entrance. She resisted the urge to go to her friend and instead continued past the inn and to the herbalist shop on the other side of the village. She quickly concluded her business and went to find her friend helping to serve the few people taking their mid day meal at the inn. Eve sat at a vacant table and waited for her friend to finish and join her.
Dina's almost white blonde hair and blue eyes was a vast contrast to the dark mahogany red hair and forest green eyes of Eve. Where as Eve felt awkward around people Dina was a classic beauty who had years of schooling in feminine charms bestowed on her by her mother. It often made Eve wonder how different her life might have been had her family never perished.
"Eve, I am so glad to see you, Mum has been driving me crazy trying to play match maker and I am not sure I can stand it." Dina set the usual meal out for their visit and set across from her. "At least for the short time you are here I will have a reprieve." She giggled.
"At least you have options," Eve replied. "By the time Magus Wendel remembers that I am a woman I will be too shriveled up to find a husband." They both giggle at the long standing joke.
The two shared stories about the time spent since their last visit as they ate their meal then they quickly cleaned their spot and left to collect Jesse to ride the short distance to the their favorite hangout along the bank of a nearby stream where they enjoyed their time until Eve had to leave for the return trip home.
As Eve made the return trip home she pondered her future. She knew many young ladies saw her training at the tower as a kind of freedom but Eve was smart enough to see it as a different kind of cage. Sure it was a beautifully crafted cage that gave the appearance of freedom because you were not forced to marry but service of a mage requires one to find an employer and most employers did not allow their mages to travel except for rare occasions to accompany them as a show piece of there wealth to announce that they could afford such things. Eve so wanted to travel and this kind of thing would be frowned upon because of her ever growing abilities. Independent mages were looked down upon and usually came to some mysterious short end. Once she completed her training and was excepted as a full mage she would develop a mark. Every mage had received one since the first mage and no one could seem to explain why but they all knew the marks could be tracked like a homing beacon. Trained or not every mage developed to their full power by the age of 21 at the latest so there was no way around the mark. At least training increased a mages chances of a good placement so an untrained mage was rarely seen. Still, Eve daydreamed of a different life despite the security and comfort offered by her magical abilities.
The sun was just beginning to set as Eve reached the stables and walked Jesse to his stall. She noticed that the Magus' favorite mare was gone as well as a few other horses and wondered what strange turn of events would cause him to leave without waiting for her return. The past few years the Magus rarely left the tower but when he did he always took her with him so she could learn from the experience. Eve shrugged off the feeling and went to grab a quick meal from the kitchen before hurrying to her room to do her nightly reading. Her mentor required her to read at least a chapter each night (usually about the history of magic or the kingdom and its surrounding lands) but the latest book was about the Phoenix and its duty to protect magic from corruption. Eve found them fascinating and had asked her mentor endless questions about them and was sad to hear that these magical creatures seemed to be disappearing from the lands. Apparently they used to be a common site seen as bright reddish colored clouds from a distance, these large creatures would light up the skies before returning to their volcanic homes. Eve had learned that though a phoenix was a living flame they had a protective magic that prevented them from burning anything they came into contact with. They were highly intelligent and their feathers were highly prized for their ability to amplify magic but were hard to obtain because of the magical abilities of their wearers. Most every feather ever acquired had been gifted. A full grown phoenix was easily a match for just about any mage which only deepened Eve's fascination. She found herself almost done reading the book much sooner than required and would often fell asleep reading it. Thus she found herself lying in bed with her face resting again a page instead of her pillow early the next morning when she was awaken by a great commotion in that was so great it found its way through her small window on the top floor just as the sun was starting to light the sky. Alarmed Eve sat up and closed the book, placing it on the small stand next to her bed before hurriedly getting dressed in a forest green shirt and black leather pants along with her black boots as well as adding a lightweight black cloak to help ward off the morning chill before rushing down to see what had caused such an alarm.
Eve reached the ground floor as they were carrying in a wounded man. He was caked in blood and muck but she had a bad feeling that he was one of the men that had left the day before with the Magus. Her fears were reinforced when she reached the stables and found them tending to various wounds on a horse she recognized as belonging go the Tower. She rushed forward and asked a stablehand she recognized as Ren for news.
"Sorry, I haven't much time. I have to get horses ready for a search party. There was apparently an attack on the Magus and his group as they were riding to handle a dispute between a couple of farmers who had cattle come up to missing at the base of the mountain..." Ren's words faded as he hurried away to help ready the horses for the search.
Eve took advantage of the chaos at the tower and quickly packed provisions for a few days and saddled Jesse before mounting up and heading out to start searching for her mentor. She knew that she would not be included in the search party but she couldn't sit in the Tower and wait while Magus Wendel was out there somewhere possibly hurt, he was the closest thing she had to family even if he was not related by blood. The Magus might be strict but he was by no means unkind and he had taken her in before he had known of her magic and cared for her the best an absent-minded old mage could. No, she would not just sit and wait.
As she rode on at a brisk pace Eve was grateful for the many hours Magus Wendel had spent making sure she knew the many maps of the kingdom and the surrounding areas. Although mages rarely traveled they were required to give their Lords and Ladies counsel and not knowing what lands they gave counsel about was unacceptable by any standards. That training now allowed Eve to make quick work of finding her way towards the base of the mountains while using the ever rising sun as a guide. She made quick progress and soon came upon a sight that made her stomach about turn. She quickly tied her horse and searched the area, blackened in color though by what it was unclear. There were scattered body parts as though something had ripped apart the horses and men who lay dead upon the ground and Eve became more concerned as she frantically searched for her mentor. She was about to give up when she saw a slight movement in the brush at the edge of the effected area. As she started to move the brush she found him, barely conscious, and reached deep for her magic preparing to heal him.
"Stop, Eve, it's fowl magic. If you try to heal me with your magic it will infect you," Magus Wendel weakly warned her.
"I cannot just stand by and watch you die," Eve countered. "There must be something I can do." Tears were streaming down her face. She could hear the approach of the search party from the castle.
"Only a phoenix has pure enough magic to combat this darkness. The search party can return me to the Tower but I need you to travel to the volcanic mountains to the south. You remember from the maps we trained with," he waited for her to nod in affirmation before continuing weakly, "if any phoenix remain you will find them there."
"I can't leave you, Magus," She sobbed as the search party made it's way over and prepared her mentor to be transported back to the Tower.
"You must go, I was too weak before the attack or I would have made the journey. I had planned on sending you once you had completed your training because the darkness is growing. If you don't make this journey I will be lucky to last a month." Magus Wendel pressed something into her hand. She looked down to find the ring bearing the mark of the Tower of the East, a castle with a bright yellow gem set in the position of the East Sky, on it clutched in her hand. "My ring will give you rights as a representative of the Tower and grant you rights and privileges accordingly. You must hurry, my time is running short..." he weakly trailed off before the impact of his wounds was too much and he lost conscience.
Eve dried her tears with the back of her hand and started back to where she left Jesse. She had to find the Phoenix and save Magus Wendel. She could not bare to lose her mentor to the same darkness that took her parents. She had to hurry, she knew she was short on time.
